


Beautiful Words

by ryekamasaki



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-09 22:18:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10423020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryekamasaki/pseuds/ryekamasaki
Summary: A collection of ficlets for Kageyama Rare Pair Week.





	1. Pastiche

_Day 1: Shadow/Light/Colors_

Tobio is cautious as he skirts the edge of the festival, blending into the dark shadows of the stalls and games he passes, keen to stay out of the general eye. It was easy for him here, to keep to himself and go unnoticed, even in the bustle of a summer celebration.

There was a glimmer in the corner of his eye, a faintly glowing but growing light of the prettiest colors, and Tobio couldn’t help but to turn to it, to try to see where it came from. The colors danced around his shadows, coaxing them into an intricate dance instead of so blatantly scaring them away, and then Tobio was faced with possibly the most attractive person he’d ever seen.

A grin bright as dawn, soft and comforting, on a face that Tobio hadn’t seen in ages. Tanaka had gone off on his quest, left behind his adolescence in search of his true purpose, the thing that he was meant to be till his time came to an end. There had never really been any feelings involved, not with them still young and not yet sure of their place in the world, though Tobio was understandably sad when most everyone had gone off on their quests alone and left him behind to wait.

Tobio could see that Tanaka had found what he needed to, and it didn’t surprise him at all that it was effectively the opposite of the duty and course that Tobio himself had been saddled with. The difference was, really, how their lights and shadows seemed to mingle together rather than either of them casting the other away, and when Tanaka reached out one softly lit hand, Tobio allowed his to settle easily in his warm palm.

The festival was much more entertaining after that, the two of them wandering around the various stalls without fear, side by side and perfectly comfortable again.


	2. Demesne

_Day 2: Tears/Smile/Hands_

It wasn’t unusual to find someone hiding in his shadows, trying to hide from the rest of the world in the dark recesses of Tobio’s territory. It was unusual for it to be this particular person, though, and Tobio wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do.

Kuroo was typically a loud, cocky sort of person, drifting around town with all the grace and lack of care as his feline charges. This Kuroo, sitting in one of Tobio’s favorite corners, tears streaming down his face, was an entirely different Kuroo than Tobio was used to. Tobio knelt beside him, took one of his hands in his (colder than usual, much colder), and reached out as best he could to see if he could find someone better at this than he was.

A few minutes later someone arrived with the whoosh of an arriving breeze, warm and comforting, and Tobio and Kuroo looked up into a sunshine bright smile that they couldn’t help but return. Tobio’s shadows trembled at Yamaguchi’s feet, and then he joined them on the floor, quiet and still. He held one of each of their hands, and eventually Kuroo’s shoulders stopped trembling and Yamaguchi’s smile seemed to clear up any remaining gloom.

They spent some time there, curled up next to each other, bathed in gentle shadows and the soft breeze, and eventually some of Kuroo’s cat companions slunk in to join in the tentatively happy atmosphere. Tobio smiled when one settled in his lap, as unafraid of him as possible, and Kuroo let out a fond chuckle while he brushed back a bit of Tobio’s hair.

It wasn’t unusual to find people hiding in his shadows, and even less so this particular person, but Tobio is grateful anyway. He doesn’t know how much he really helped, but being able to spend a bit of time with them both is worth even his awkwardness.


	3. Penumbra

_Day 3: Romantic/Platonic/Sharing a Blanket  
_

The living room is fairly quiet where Tobio sits on the couch and waits for the others. It livens up a tiny bit when Akaashi finally comes in from the balcony, done with his looking over of the settling night, and with him he brings the quiet chirping of crickets, the wispy sound of night air through grass even though the doors and windows are closed. There’s a sort of quiet pattering that Tobio identifies as a light twilight rain, and then Akaashi is seated next to him and the sounds quietly blend into the cover of Tobio’s shadows.

Tsukishima pads in quietly from the kitchen, drinks in hand, and as he plops down on Tobio’s other side a few of his little bats drop Tobio’s favorite blanket on them all before hanging easily onto the curtain rod and settling down. There’s more cricket noises, and a quiet hoot, and a tiny little squeaky noise that Tobio knows by now comes from an equally tiny frog that follows Tsukishima everywhere.

Akaashi fixes the blanket over them properly before taking his drink from Tsukishima, and he lets out a quietly disgusted noise at the kiss that Tobio and Tsukishima share as Tobio takes his drink too. Tsukishima raises an eyebrow, and they all know what it means even without any words. ‘You can leave’ it says, and ‘Leave the blanket’ too, and Tobio just barely manages to keep from laughing even as Akaashi settles more firmly against his side.

It’s nice to spend the nights like this, watching movies and cuddling together, even if Akaashi prefers to stick to the more friendly sort of cuddling, while Tsukishima is perfectly content to let his creatures roam about basking in Akaashi’s night sounds and Tobio’s dark shadows while he smothers Tobio in gentle, quiet kisses. The room is warm, and Tobio is comfortable, and he manages to fall asleep like that.


	4. Imbroglio

_Day 4: Dreams/Nightmares/Solace  
_

Even with his familiarity with shadows and the darker side of life, Tobio still has the occasional trouble with nightmares, dark, creepy things that sink their claws into his mind and refuse to let go. It’s a little strange, that Tobio can be so immersed in his duty as one of the night, and still be so affected that he can’t rouse himself from something he knows isn’t real, something he distinctly knows is a nightmare.

This time it’s him alone again, just himself and the shadows, quiet and deadly, and Tobio knows that he’s not really alone, that the people around him won’t leave him behind again like he has been before. He even knows that Bokuto is comfortably asleep just a room away, splayed out across Tobio’s lumpy couch, as asleep as Tobio himself is.

That’s another strange thing, that Tobio is both asleep and very aware that he is asleep. The shadows in his dreams don’t behave like the ones he deals with when he’s awake, and they refuse to listen to him, which is almost as scary as the possibility of being left behind. The only thing Tobio is really good for is controlling the shadows, and if he can’t do that what use is he?

There’s a rustle in the dark of the nightmare, and Tobio wonders what’s going to show up next, if it’s going to be someone to mock him, or a frightening animal, or some dark menace that Tobio can’t do anything about.

Instead it’s someone surrounding by an almost ethereal glow, and it only takes a second for Tobio to recognize Kenma, wandering into the landscape of Tobio’s dreamland with the same ease he uses in the waking world. Kenma takes his hand and pulls him along, leads him to a warm field that Tobio knows is Bokuto’s dream instead, a solace away from the darkness of Tobio’s own.

Bokuto is laying in a field of flowers, something like a rippling meadow, and he seems to sense them as soon as they enter, because he beckons them over as soon as Tobio’s foot steps on grass. Kenma pulls them along until they’re next to Bokuto, and then he gently pushes Tobio down next to him, where Bokuto lays them both back down on the ground to look up at the clear sky.

Tobio doesn’t much get to look at the sky like this, bright and cheerful and the complete opposite of all his shadows and darkness. Kenma gazes up at it as well, directs a tiny smile down at them as he sits and lays his head against Tobio’s stomach. It’s safe and peaceful, and Tobio drifts off quickly.


	5. Luminescent

_Day 5: Firsts/Lasts/Road Trip  
_

The car’s engine rumbles as they leave the town behind, a new road underneath their wheels, the first time that Tobio’s ever been this far away from his home. The sky is slightly cloudy but still bright, just enough that Tobio’s not totally uncomfortable so blatantly surrounded by the day, and he knows that the way the clouds seem to follow them is all Suga’s doing.

Daichi is driving, the road rolling smooth and easy beneath them, the breeze warm and comforting as it comes in the windows. Tobio gazes out of the window where he lays in the backseat, and Suga and Daichi sing along with the radio, humming parts that they don’t know, laughing at each other when they get words wrong.

He must drift off, because when he opens his eyes again the sky is dark, and not in a Suga influenced way, but actual nighttime darkness, speckled with bright stars, and the car is stopped. The back door is open, and Tobio can see the other two just outside of it, sitting close together and gazing at the clear sky. He scoots out of the open door, and they look over at him with smiles as he practically flops over into their laps.

Suga runs his fingers through Tobio’s hair and Tobio sighs, the remnants of momentary panic giving way to the soothing motion. Daichi’s voice is quiet but firm as he looks down at where Tobio looks up at him.

“I told you back then it was the last time you’d be left alone, remember?”

Suga smiles down at him and Tobio can’t help but to smile back at them, at the care and concern they show for him, that they’ve stuck to their promise like they said they would. The fact that he hasn’t been alone since everyone had left just proves it. Tobio’s not afraid now, knows that they’ll be there always, that they’ll make sure someone is always around.

The rest of the trip is fun, too, visiting the different towns and ensuring that relations between them all are good, stopping occasionally to gaze at the night sky and make wishes on the blinking stars, even though they’re all far to old to believe that they’ll come true. Still, it’s nice, and by the time they make it back home Tobio is content.


	6. Maelstrom

_Day 6: Saviour/Foe/Defeat  
_

Tobio is in trouble and he knows it. He just barely manages to send one shadow off for help when he has to call it back, this thing that’s attacking him, attacking his shadows, relentless and strong and not giving an inch. He’s not entirely sure what it is, can’t really see through the gloom enough to get a good look, but whatever it is is attacking his shadows and that pisses him off. Unfortunately being pissed off doesn’t help him fight, and it’s not very long until he’s almost beaten to the ground, remaining shadows trembling around as he crouches on the pavement.

Slowly he realizes that it’s not just the shadows trembling, it’s the actual ground. He looks up, and dark clouds have gathered above his head, menacing and dangerous. There’s footsteps behind him, and he already knows who they belong to without looking, but he does anyway. Asahi stands tall above him, fierce and focused, drawing more and more dark clouds to the sky, swirling and angry.

There’s a loud yell and the deafening crack of thunder, and then there’s a tiny body in front of Tobio, too, Noya crouched in a protective stance right between them and whatever it is that’s attacking them. The winds whirl faster and stronger, and then there’s lightning to go with the thunder, and the thing quivers but doesn’t back down. Tobio can feel Asahi’s presence behind him get stronger, and then it’s raining, sheets and sheets of hard, hurricane force rain, whipped into a frenzy with the wind and lightning.

After that it’s over quickly, the thing banished to some other plane where it can’t attack anyone again, and Asahi’s clouds and wind and rain all disappear with a great sigh as he holds a hand out for Tobio to help himself up with. Noya grins and lightning flashes once more before he stands too, bounces happily up to them and squishes them both in a hug that could crack bones.


	7. Harmony

_Day 7: Free Day/AU of Choice  
_

Tobio’s tiny apartment was not used to being so full. The couch was practically squeaking from the weight of four people on it at once, and the floor wasn’t much better with the rest of them, Tobio included, sprawled out over it. The tv sent flickering lights over the room, a movie playing that wasn’t really being watched by anyone, sound down so low that it couldn’t be heard over the laughing and chattering.

Tobio’s got his head in Bokuto’s lap, looking up at where he gesticulates wildly while telling Daichi and Noya some story about a cat in a tree and an errant flashlight. Akaashi, behind them on the couch, shakes his head every so often, like he wants to correct Bokuto’s retelling but holds himself back anyway. Tsukishima is squished next to him with Kenma and Suga on his other side, and Kenma is laughing at something Suga is showing him on his phone.

Tanaka has Tobio’s legs across his lap, and Tanaka strokes them absentmindedly while nodding along to whatever Asahi is talking about. Tobio thinks he’s recounting the adoption of a particularly feisty cat that had happened earlier in the day at the adoption center where Asahi volunteers. Kuroo and Yamaguchi are on opposite sides of the coffee table, very involved in an ever lengthening arm wrestling match that they both keep winning in turns.

Tobio smiles to himself in contentment. Even with the loud voices and the dimness of the room, the creaking of crickets and Tsukishima’s bats and Kuroo’s cats flittering and slinking about, he’s extraordinarily happy. He’s never been very inclined to have friends, but here, surrounded by this group of people, even though they might be loud or occasionally irritating, he knows he’s with people he loves. People who love him. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come yell at me on [tumblr](http://ryekamasaki.tumblr.com/).


End file.
